


NIGHT TERRORS

by princess_fluffle



Category: Cherik - Fandom, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men Apocalypse - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-12 14:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7108819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princess_fluffle/pseuds/princess_fluffle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been two weeks since Cairo- more than 14 days on a morphine is dangerous for anyone, let alone someone who's already dealt with an addiction. Still, Charles was a telepath so if he couldn't be weened yet, Hank hoped he'd be okay. And if not, well he'd fought worse battles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	NIGHT TERRORS

"He's screaming again," Raven said with a whimper. "It's the third time tonight."

Hank looked at her with sadness in his eyes; "I can't go wake Jean."

"You don't have another telepath," she shot back. "She's the only one who can get in his mind and show him it's over."

"She finally fell asleep- I think he's just going to have to suffer through it this time. If he can't, we'll have to consider giving him morphine and risk it."

It has been two weeks since Cairo- more than 14 days on a morphine is dangerous for anyone, let alone someone who's already dealt with an addiction. Still, Charles was a telepath so if he couldn't be weened yet, Hank hoped he'd be okay. And if not, well he'd fought worse battles.

The door to Charles' bedroom creaked open as Erik walked in. Nobody except Jean had dared to get within thirty feet of Charles during one of his nightmares. He was too powerful and his pain pushed out stronger than most people could bare. Erik, however, wasn't most people. He'd endured pain his whole life and for Charles, he was ready for more.

Erik's mind flashed with Apocalypse smashing Charles against a wall repeatedly.  
"No," he pleaded with Charles' dream, to no avail.

As he approached the bed he began to feel Charles' pain. His severed spine aching so much, Erik had to stop to breath and remind himself he himself could walk.

"No," he commanded repeatedly every few steps until the change on the dresser began to melt and blend together.

Climbing into the bed, he picked up Charles and pushed his head to the telepath' s temple- his center of concentration.

"Charles, no! You aren't in your hallway, Charles. The house is gone."

He spoke and thought the words simultaneously, perhaps, too harshly but Charles' screams paused for a moment, and he whimpered, "oh." The images began to return but Erik pressed on softer.

"We aren't in North Salem my darling, we aren't even in New York."

The room began to transform into a dessert landscape and Erik forced back, "Not Cairo, Charles. We are not in Egypt and we are never going back there."

Charles' arms began to swat around, hitting Erik several times until he wrapped his arms around the still sleeping Charles.

"We are in Miami- before Egypt and Washington, before Paris and Cuba, before 27 cities in America where we recruited members for our mutant family..."

Charles' face began to relax and his breath slowed.

"And Darwin's not dead and Angel's still on stage. All of our kids are fine." Tears began to well up in Erik's eyes but he couldn't stop so he tried for a joke instead.

"And Sean- what did he do to those fish anyway? Did they die did they disappear? Did they simply swim away?"

A smile creased Charles' mouth and images of a hotel on the coast of Miami began to surround the pair. Charles' eyes flutter open and he stares into Erik's eyes.

"Where are we?" His voice was horse.  
  
"Your servants quarters or guest house or something. I can't keep up with rich people structures." Erik smiled.

Charles went to grab his hair, something Erik realized very early on he did to gather his thoughts. He grabbed the telepath's hand and kissed his bald head.

"Hair's gone?"  
"Hair's gone, Charles."

Charles' large blue eyes widen and tears began to form. Erik hated when Charles cried so he tried to distract him.

"Do you remember when my nightmares would come?"

"What?" Charles said, distraught.

"You'd wake up to find me alone in a corner, thinking in German, lips mumbling and eyes wide."

Charles just nodded, hollow.

"It's a trick I learned so long ago I can't remember from who. I've done it for as long as I remember. Magda thinks it might have been my mother who taught me. She caught me one night doing it, just like you used to..."

Charles began to shake as he stared into Erik's eyes. "Your wife, Erik. Oh my God and your daughter." He gasped.

"Focus Charles. Focus on my words. Start small and move out until you know what's real and what's not. It helps, okay it helps. Trust me."

When Charles said nothing, Erik silently cursed Charles for being so difficult. Didn't he know Erik didn't try.

"It's not my fault," Charles snorted. "I'm a telepath."

"Okay, good. You are a telepath. A very powerful telepath- what else?"

"I have a school. I'm going to be 50 years old this September but I tell people I'm 35."

Erik laughed. "Good, keep going."

"I don't have a school. Oh Erik- I don't have a school, or a home. It's gone."

"You have a school- you don't have the building but you have students who love you. And I will build you a better home. Poor little Rich boy- you won't be homeless forever. Now, what else?"

"I have you. After all of this time, you're back. I always knew you'd come home to me one day."

"You told me to leave, Charles. I was ready to give you my whole life and you told me we didn't want the same things."

This might not have been the best time to bring it up but Erik had been waiting twenty years.

"I didn't mean... I meant murder. We didn't want... I didn't want to kill people, Erik. I regretted you leaving every single minute for a decade because I do love you I just couldn't watch you... I don't know." Charles was at a loss for words.

"It's okay. I feel what you mean," Erik tapped his head. "And, I suppose if I didn't have the helmet on I'd have known what you meant then."

"It's okay. You couldn't trust me. I was mad about it but I get it."

"I trust you now- well mostly. We could talk about this forever you know and never figure out who was more wrong or we could start over."

"I'd like that. I'm tired of being mad- but not over, let's just start better."

Charles snuggled up to Erik's chest and listened to his heart, the tiny thumps lulling him to sleep.


End file.
